1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a measuring and printing device installed in a supermarket, store or the like for measuring the weight of an article and printing prescribed particulars, including the measured value, on a label.
2. Description of the Related Art
In over-the-counter selling that measures and sells articles, such as meat, daily dishes, at a supermarket, and the like, a measuring and printing device is used for measuring the weight of an article, printing data such as net weight and price to a label based on the measured value, and then issuing it.
Label paper, on which the prescribed particulars, including the measured value, are printed, is detachably glued on a mount to form a roll shape. It should be appreciated that the label paper needs to be replaced.
A measuring device in which the replacement of label paper can be performed from the front side (the side facing an operator) of the device is already known (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-247502).
However, in the measuring and printing device described in the above publication, the replacement operation of label paper can be performed from the front side of the device, but since the operation surface on which a liquid crystal display containing a numeric keypad and a call key or various action keys are disposed, and a label printer having a label issuing port at the front side thereof, are provided together on the front side of the device, the width of the operation surface is narrowed by the transverse width of the label printer. Namely, the screen width of the liquid crystal display arranged on the operation surface is narrowed. Since the screen width of the liquid crystal display is narrowed, there are problems in that the display content to be displayed on the display may be difficult to see, and items to be displayed on the screen, as well as the number of keys, including a call key, must be limited.
When the screen is made larger in such a device, such that the label issuing port and the screen of the liquid crystal display are provided together, there is a problem in that the size of the entire device must be enlarged.
Furthermore, a conventional label printer has both a printing unit and a measuring unit. A load cell, which is a component of the measuring unit, is disposed at the center of the device, and the printing unit, which is a label printer, is disposed at the side of the device.
In order to ensure that the load imposed on the load cell is uniform, even if members to be provided within the device or the like are omitted, the length from the center of the load cell to the end where the label printer is disposed needs to be secured as a dimension from the center of the load cell to the other end (the end opposite to the side where the label printer is disposed). As a result, the device becomes larger.